The Des Moines Social Club is hosting “Artquake” on June 27 at the Firehouse. The interactive art and music event will feature performances from Tires, Satellite State and the debut of Dickweed, featuring Poison Control Center front man Patrick Tape Fleming and former Pavement glue man Bob Nastonavich. More information
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in Sound Notes
June 12, 2013 by justin
in Tech Talk
The Field Trip app, for the explorer
A recent Nielsen survey revealed that now more than 51 percent of adult Americans own smartphones. It’s no mystery why. Web searches, mobile applications, social networks and much more supply its users with answers to nearly any question within seconds of being asked. But what about providing answers to questions
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in The Sound
Randy Burk: heart and soul of small-town Iowa
When talking to Randy Burk, it’s impossible not to be struck by his workmanlike demeanor. A plain-spoken man, Burk’s music is a reflection of where he’s come from. You can hear his Atlantic, Iowa, roots in every track, and Burk wouldn’t have it any other way. “I write songs about
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in Film Review
Canned Shakespeare
“Much Ado About Nothing” 2 stars Rated PG-13 109 minutes Comedy Starring: Amy Acker, Alexis Denisof, Fran Kranz Josh Whedon’s sophomoric attempt at swimming in Kenneth Brannagh’s waters of expertise — namely adapting Shakespeare plays to film — is akin to watching a wet cat lick itself dry. Curiosity succumbs
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in Cover Story
With honor & pride
Through no fault of his own, this is a story about Sammy. Sammy lived in the tiny town of Notasulga, Ala., for years. Every day he would cross the street from his house to the United States Post Office in town, where he’d spend the day roaming the grounds and
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in Civic Skinny
Register circulation plummets (again). GOP ‘tickle pickle.’ Luebke is in prison.
Circulation at The Des Moines Register is in a free-fall. Far fewer people are buying the print edition, where subscribers are also forced to pay for the electronic edition whether they want it or not. And — now that it costs money — far fewer people are browsing the electronic
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in Belly Up To...
Getting back to The Point
Getting kicked out of a bar has come to be a running joke — almost a badge of honor even — among my ornery, carousing friends. I’ll never forget my first time. I took advantage of a birthday deal being offered at a Clive bar — “where you want to
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in Food Dude
India Star’s clay oven magic
Spring served proof of the holiness of ethnic food fairs. How else can one explain how CelebrAsian, the Jewish Food Fair and the Greek Food Fair were all blessed by gorgeous weather sandwiched amongst the otherwise dark rye skies of this most dismal of Iowa springs? Those glorious days of
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June 12, 2013 by justin
in On The Tube
Vampire inferno
All hell breaks loose in the sixth season of ‘True Blood’ “True Blood,” the modern-day vampire series, begins its sixth season in ghastly fashion (Sunday, 8 p.m., HBO). Bill (Stephen Moyer) dies, then returns to life as something bloody and horrible. He emerges from a burning building and shoots into
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